Hand printer



R. JORDAN Dec. 18, 1934.

HAND PRINTER Filed July 10, 1953 INVENTOR Fem/2 Jraam A- TTORNE V Patented Dec. 18, 1934 UNITED STATES;

PATENT OFFICE This invention relates tohand printers and has as ojnel' of itsobjectsto provide a hand printer that is self contained.

a hand printer having movableand interchangable type fonts.

A further object of the invention is to provide a handfprinter that will utilize theweight of the typefont to act as a securing means for the paper 10. to be printed.

a hand printer ha i gself aligningjprinting elements.

With these and other objects in View reference is now had to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the printer complete;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation thereof with part of the type tray broken away? whole which consists in general of a base 2 whose and a travelling font The base'2' is constructed of any substantial material that will provide a firm platen upon which a card or paper (not showni to be printed may rest evenly a" receive a perfect impression. While nomention of thematerial to be printed upon is made the claims it is obvi'ous that a sheet of such materialforthe purpose is necessar'yfhowev'er an impression against the platen 9;; is beyond dispute the-equivalent of an impression against the material intended to carry the printed matter and must-be so understood.

'Upon the platen 3 s provided, preferably at its rear edge 5, a raised portion which maylconsist 5 of blocks 6 as shown, or other means of providing an elevation, for a purpose to be explained, and a gauge 7 as shown in Fig. 1, may also be provided thereon fora purpose to be explained. Legs or buttons 8 serve as supports for the printer in the usual manner.

A track is now provided'on the printer and is disposed in parallel relation tothe desired printingi line Qand consists of a guide rail 10 formed Another objeet of the invention is to provide.

A further object of the Linventionis vto provide upper surface is finished to provide a platen 3,

he amisr. heree Fi s- 2 eWt ih its 7 lower edge folded to provide a slot 11 as shown, and also a worklrail l2,

The guide rail 10 is rigidly attached to the blocks 6 whereby it assumes a position elevated above the platen 3, and the work rail 12 is 5 hingedly -attached to the blocks, as at 13, in a manner to assumea position at an elevation below that of the guide rail, and is hingedly attached for movement in a vertical arc.

Attached to the work rail 12 is a space bar 1 1 consisting of a straightplate notched for a pur-. pose. to beexplained, and the bar is extended above the rail to provide a stop 15 andthis bar obviously raises with the work rail 12 Mounted on and engaging the track is the self 15 inking type fontg which consists of a tray 16 having one side 17 open and disposed to reston the work rail 12 and positioned adjacent the space bar 14, and its opposite side 18 is provided with 'aflback 19 that extends downward below the 20 bottom 20 of the tray 16 there terminating in a tongue .21 which removably, rockably and slidably engages the guiderail 10 by passing through the said slot 11 formed therein for the purpose, by which means movement of the tray will be held in aligned relation with theplaten 3 andguidedly parallel with the printing line 9.

The difference of elevation of the rails, and the tray. resting thereon, places. the trayat an vangle with. respect to the platen and this position of the tray is termed the observation angleja s it presents the contents of thetraymore clearly to the view ofthe operator.

The tray 16 is now positioned with respect tothe work rail 12 that it may be raisedin avertical arc therewith, as shown in Fig. 3, a space being left between its front edge (or open side 17) and the space bar 14 to accommodate movement on the different hinge points of the tray and the work rail. 40.

It is now evident that the tray 16 is secured to the guide rail 10 by its tongue 21; that it will readily slide on said guide rail; that it will rock on the guide rail during the raising and lowering thereof; and that it is removable therefrom by sliding the tongue endwise and on the guide rail. This latter arrangement now permits the use of interchangeable trays asQfor instance, trays containing diiferent type faces may be substitute d for one anotherwhere it is desired tobring out or emphasize some statement more emphatically; The tray 16 is further provided with cleats 22 formed in rows in the bottom 20 thereof in any suitable manner, or the cleats may consistof a of the cleats for contact with printingmembers 27 when in the normal position in the font.

The font 4 is'no'w completed by the addition of said printing members 27 which consist of any type suitable for the purpose but preferably of the rubber stamp variety having a rubber type face;

(not shown) attached to the block 28, the block being shaped to grip conveniently thus providing by ,dropping thearm 1 into the proper notch of a handle portion.

The block 28 in this case has the exposed surface of the handle portion flattened and indicating characters are placed thereon, as at 29, whereby.

when the printing members are placed uniformly in their normal position in the tray, as in rows corresponding with the cleats, and at the observation angle of the font, a convenient and very plainly visible key board is provided, as by the observation angle the type members 27 are superimposed one above the other, and in a bank, and are thus decidedly accessible and visible.

As shown in Fig. 4 two widths of blocks 28 may be utilized to conserve space by reducing the size ofthe font thereby reducing the overall length of the printer, and this may be done by grouping the punctuation marks andthe narrower letters and numbers in a bank by themselves.

The printing members 27 are made an integral a part of the tray 16 by being hingedly attached thereto by means of the said cleats, and by arms 30 properly distributed and of predetermined lengths connecting the members therewith, and thesearms are disposed to permit withdrawal of the members of the tray in a circular path over preceding members (illustrated by the curved lines in Fig. 2) so that any member ina row may be optionally directed to the printing lineiwithout interference from the remaining members.

As a single arm is provided'for each printing member the ends ofthe arms are enlarged, as at 31, to provide a substantial bearing at the point of connection with both the block 28 and the side arms 24 whereby the type face will be caused to evenly impress the paper, and they areoffset, as

at 32, and operate from alternate sides of the cleats to prevent interference during operation.

It is now apparent that with the tray secured against disalignment by the guide rail,.and with the type members integral therewith, that impressions made against the platen will be auto-.

matically aligned with the platen and obviously ;with the printing line.

The arms 30 in. their movement to make the impression must engage one of the notches of the space bar l i-and the'notches of the space bar are spaced to provide uniform and automatic spacing between the characters during operation.

While the printing members are integral with the tray the use of-interchangeable false bottoms carrying the printing members and attachable to p the tray is considered an equivalent.

In usethedesired font is mounted on the guide rail with its. front resting on the work rail.

Thework rail is now raised in a vertical are away from the platen which also raises the font .when the. card to be printed may be positioned 75" against the'gauge in proper register for printcured the first letter of the sentence is drawn from the font, the font being moved to proper position in the line at the same time and by the typemember (or may be assisted by the opera tors other hand), when the impression is made the space bar and contacting the paper with the inked type face.

Thetype member is now replaced in the font and a second member for the sentence utilized in like manner and repeated until the sentence is completed and the printing finished, when all. type members will have been retumed to place; and no after-work remains except that of withdrawing the card from the printer. Withdrawing the card requires a similar movement of the work rail and it will, be noted that the side arms 33 of this member 12 projects beyond the platen to form a. finger-hold for the purpose of raising, but, it. is obvious that a button or handle means (not shown) may be attached to this rail for the purpose if desired.

Having thus described my invention I claim; 1. A hand printer comprising a platen, a track mounted on said platen in parallel relation to the desired printing line, a type font removably and slidably mounted on said track 'and consisting of a tray, a tongue attached to said tray for engagement with said track, cleats provided in the bottom of said tray, printing members having exposed indicating characters, providing a key board, arms pivotally connecting-said members and said cleats and arranged to direct said members in a circular path from said printing line, guided by said track.

2'. A hand printer comprising a platen, a track mounted on and above said platen and in parallel relation to the desiredprinting line, a self inking type font consisting of a tray removably and slidably mounted on said track, pairs of cleats provided in the bottom of saidtray, an ink pad disposed between each pair of cleats,

printing members normally resting in a bank,

at an elevation above said-platen, and a work rail hingedly attached to said platen at an eletray to the vation below said guide rail, aself inking type font removably and slidably mounted on said track and arranged thereon to provide an observation angle thereto by the respective elevations'of said rails, said font consisting of a tray, cleats, in rows, formed in said tray, printing members normally superimposed one above the i other in'rows and providedwith indicating characters to form a key board, arms pivotally connecting said printing members and said cleats, and arranged to optionally direct any member in a row to the printing line, and in a circular path over preceding members, to impress against said platen.

4. A hand printer comprising a platen, a pair of elevating blocks attached to said platen, a track mounted on said platen in parallel relation to the desired printing line, said track consisting of a guide rail rigidly attached to said blocks and a work rail hingedly attached to said blocks and disposed at a lesser elevation than said guide rail, and movable in a vertical are, a space bar attached to said work rail, a self inking type font removably, rockably and slidably mounted on said track and arranged thereon to "provide an observation angle thereto by the respective elevation of said rails, and rockable in a vertical arc with said work rail, and forming with said work rail, said space bar and said font a substantial securing weight, printing members hingedly attached to said font by arms and providing a key board, said arms being registerable with the spaces of said space bar to automatically space the printed letters, and to optionally direct any member to the printing line in a circular path and over preceding members to impress against said platen.

RUSH JORDAN. 

